"I suggest we push on," Demlan says, casting an eye up towards the opening heavens, "Keep your weapons handy though." Demlan draws his longsword before nudging his mount towards the monastery.
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"It appears that there may be more than meets the eye at this monastery," Demlan says, "I suggest we move with caution."
Demlan ignores the rat for now and focuses on killing the zombie.
Demlan spots the zombie kobold after Bertrand points it out. At first, he is offended by the creature's appearance but this is replaced by pity. Hefting his lance, he charges the beast on the back of his horse.
Demlan whistles tunelessly.
Demlan roars in pain, pulling out his longsword and swinging down at the beast from atop his mount.
Demlan turned his thoughts inwards on how he could overthrow the Consortium once the town was healed of sickness.
Demlan takes the third shift, his blanket drawn around his shoulders for warmth.
"We can skirt the lake shore and should end up in the right place to cut across the forest and emerge near the monastery, if Milon's map was correct, " Demlan sits up in his saddle as he prepares to move off. "Keep an eye out for those goblins, especially as night closes in on us," Demlan casts his eye about, just in case.
"From descriptions I've heard in the past, I'd guess it is a hobgoblin. Bigger and nastier than a goblin, smarter than an Orc," Demlan nudges the corpse with his armoured boot. "Leave it for the elements, time is pressing," Demlan moves to remount Thunder.
Demlan charges the nearest crow with his longsword and shield drawn. With a wordless cry, he swings at it determinedly.
Demlan looks on, slightly confused by what is happening. He dismounted when they stopped and has his horse tied to a low hanging branch.
"It must be about midday," Demlan answers himself, "We could remain here and head for the monastery at first light or make it as far as we can before nightfall."
Demlan grunts as he finishes the cauldron, then sighs in relief as the healing magic knits flesh and mends bone. He lets the others speak while he looks out the window to see how much daylight is left.
Demlan continues to swing at the animated cauldron.
"For Andoran!" shouts the Cavalier, charging the animated cauldron with his longsword swinging in both hands.
Demlan remains at the door, keeping an eye for any external threats. His hand remains firmly on the pommel of his sword in case trouble arises.
Demlan urges Thunder closer to the hut, although with each step the horse seems more and more reluctant to take another. Eventually, Demlan has to resort to tying him to one of the little wooden effigies and continuing on foot. Wary of whoever may be inside, he swings his shield onto his arm and places his hand on the pommel of his sword, ready to unsheathe it at a moment's notice. "Proceed with caution," he whispers to the others.
Demlan drew his heavy crossbow as quietly as possible and aimed for a spot between the goblin's shoulder blades. A twang echoed around the forest as the bolt leapt forward like a scalded cat!
Demlan clenched his fist in frustration as the bolt thudded uselessly into the tree the goblin was relieving itself against, roughly three feet above it's head.
"Well then, shall we move out? We may be able to reach the witch's hut by nightfall," Demlan said. He used the reins to steer Thunder to point in the right direction.
"Parts of it could be valuable to various trades in town. And perhaps it can serve as a symbol against the oppression of the Consortium. No matter the size of the beast, they die all the same without the head," Demlan said with a tone of defiance in his voice.
Demlan cast his eye over the items, and shrugged. None of the items held any particular value for him. "Place the items in Thunder's saddlebags," he said, "He can carry the weight until we return to Falcon's Hollow and can divide things equally."
Demlan watched as the cleric attempted to heal the two of them from the beast's bites. Some of the flesh knitted together, but the wounds did not fully close. "Perhaps we should wait here until the two of you are mended," Demlan said, looking at their wounds before looking back up at the hanging bodies, "It would give us time to bury these unfortunate souls."
Demlan cleaned the tip of the lance of the beast's gore before replacing it in it's holster. Even though the beast was dead, his mount whinnied at being so close to the beast so Demlan nudged it away with his knees before tying it to a low-hanging branch and dropping off his horse. "Well, that was fun," Demlan said, nudging the beast with his foot. He had no idea what the beast was although it looked like a small dragon, from the tales he had heard. He doubted it was though, or else he'd just managed to slay a dragon with a mounted charge like in the tales of glory his father raised him on. "We should take from it what might be if use to the people of Falcon's Hollow. The hide at least might be worth some money to an armorer." Demlan could do little for the injured party members so he looked for the moss and anything that the bodies had on them. "We should bury them. It's the proper thing to do."
Demlan charges the beast on his mount, intent on killing it.
Demlan remained slightly away from the tree, aware that he wouldn't be able to charge whatever had slaughtered the three bodies if he were too close. After Tamnir retrieved his shield, Demlan hoists up his lance and remains alert, ready to charge at a moment's notice.
Demlan stands the last watch, busying himself with the preparation of his mount. As he works, he speaks to the horse, patting him gently on the neck. After the goblin's sleep spell last night, the horse had been skittish but a night's rest appeared to have calmed his nerves.
"We'll survive," Demlan replied, glaring in the direction of the retreating goblins, "Let them go. We can't afford to get snarled up with chasing goblins through the woods while trying to locate the ingredients. We'll keep an eye out for them though, and cut them down if we can."
Demlan grunts as he is jerked awake by the fall. His lance slips from his hand as he falls asleep and when he wakes, he draws his loaded crossbow and takes aim at the spellcasting goblin.
Demlan reloads his crossbow, and fires it at any goblin who remains within sight.
Demlan recalls what was said about the Goblins back in town, and draws his lance, beginning to circle around the goblins so that he can charge from a slightly different direction in case they have laid traps in front of them.
"It appears we have a plan then," Demlan says, "Thank you for the help, Milon, but we must be off. In this particular case, every little second really does count."
"So we either strike out for this Ager's home in the hope that he has a boat, or we have to travel down around the lake and back," Demlan replies, furrowing his eyebrows in thought. "Bertrand, you are a local man, what do you think the best course of action?"
Demlan took a moment to review the map before speaking. "We need to visit all three sites, so I would suggest that we begin with the farthest away," Demlan indicated to the monastery, "We can then make our way back, picking up the other ingredients as we go. Do you all agree?" Demlan echoed Tamnir's sentiments about Milon's nephew.
Demlan extended his hand to Milon once they were in the office. "We're here about the blackscour taint," he said, "Laurel said you could help us with directions. We're looking for ingredients to a cure for the taint that Laurel believes will work. Do you think you could help with directions, or even a guide?"
"Greetings," Demlan said as he reined in his horse, "We've been led to believe that a woodsman by the name of Milon Rhoddam is at this camp. Our group has been tasked with locating some supplies so that Laurel can concoct a cure for the blackscour taint ravaging the town. Do you know where we can find him?"
"What manner of grotesque display is this?" Demlan exclaimed, dropping has hand to grip his lance. "What kind of monster would do such a thing?"
"Our intention is to seek out a man called Milon Rhoddam so that we can get directions to various locations in the Vale so that we can return to Falcon's Hollow before too many other people perish from this despicable disease," Demlan said, swinging his leg over his horse. "Shall we be on the move then, gents?"
Demlan looked around the assembled men, then shrugged. "In truth, we had yet to establish a chain of command yet I would be willing to take up the yoke of leadership," Demlan looked to the others for confirmation.
Demlan reached Roots and Remedies without much incident, and stood around waiting for the rest of the group to gather.
Demlan spent some time while heading back to Roots and Remedies asking around about the Lumber Consortium. What he learnt about the Consortium; that they owned most of the justice system and all of the illegal businesses in town, cemented his gut feeling that the Consortium had to be removed from power and Falcon's Hollow handed back to the people.
Demlan listened to the other half-elf who spoke to Tamnir, mentally cataloguing the names for future reference. Once this taint was done, perhaps he would see to removing the Lumber Consortium from power.
Retcon: Demlan smiled at the redhead's compliment. "You are a beautiful woman, m'lady," he said with a small bow, "Some compatriots and I are heading into the Vale soon and shall seek out the goblins!"
Demlan went to the supplies shop with Tamnir but only bought five day's supplies which he stowed in the saddlebags of his mount. "Feel free to stow what you need in my saddlebags, Tamnir," Demlan said, as he swung his leg over the horse's back, "The lighter your load, the quicker we will move."
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